Parents are being warned that a new Barbie doll that features a built-in video camera could be used as a tool by paedophiles to make child pornography.
The Barbie 'Video Girl', which is on sale in the UK and the U.S., has a hidden camera in the chest and a small LCD screen video display in her back.
A 'cyber crime alert' from the FBI has said the doll, which went on sale in July, could be used to record footage used for distribution by paedophiles.
It said: 'FBI investigation has revealed instances where an individual convicted of distributing child pornography had given a Barbie doll to a six-year-old girl.
The document went on to cite the findings of another investigation which found 'examples where a concealed video camera had recorded child pornography'.
That camera did not involve a doll, FBI agent Frederick Gutt said, but the possible combination of the two in a single device presents concerns for investigators.
There have been no recorded incidents of paedophiles using the Barbie 'Video Girl' to prey on young children.
Now, it is true, that a pedophile could give one of these dolls to a child that he or she is grooming, in order to secretly film them.
It is also true that pedophiles could just use their own cameras, as they must do already, since the article mentions that there have been no recorded incidents of pedophiles using this doll to record children.
My concern is that adults - fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, and so on - might present a child with one of these dolls with no ulterior motive whatsoever (it is intended as a toy, after all), but they will now be suspected of the most disgusting crimes imaginable.
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